Over the past three years, no driver in the state of Wisconsin has had more success than Justin Mondeik. In that time, he has established himself as one of the region’s top drivers to the tune of 44 feature wins, six track championships at State Park Speedway, Golden Sands Speedway, and Norway Speedway, as well as a TUNDRA Super Late Model Series title last season.
That leaves just one thing Mondeik has yet to accomplish – an ASA Midwest Tour championship. His lone win with the Tour came at State Park in the Larry Detjens Memorial in 2020, the year he finished third in the final points standings.
“It’s been really good over these past three years. We’ve had 44 feature wins and between series and track championships, we’ve had seven championships in the last three years,” said Mondeik. “We’ve been able to accomplish a lot as a team. The last thing we have to accomplish is to get an ASA Midwest Tour championship, so that’s our main focus this year along with defending our TUNDRA Super Late Model championship as well.”
After a top-ten run to start off the Midwest Tour season at Slinger Super Speedway, he heads to Madison International Speedway for his first start with the ASA STARS National Tour in the Joe Shear Classic. He earned his first top-five at the half-mile oval last August in the Howie Lettow Memorial.
“We’ve had speed there the past few years. I feel like every time we go to that racetrack, we’re able to improve on our baseline and find more speed as the day goes on. It’ll be helpful to have that practice day on Saturday and be able to fine tune our setups before the big day on Sunday.”
Mondeik will focus on racing around the Upper Midwest in 2023, chasing after championships with the Midwest Tour and TUNDRA while handpicking local shows throughout the season. That will include at least one other appearance with the ASA STARS National Tour at the Gandrud Auto Group 250 at Wisconsin International Raceway in August – an event co-sanctioned with the ASA Midwest Tour.
If everything goes right for his team, it could also parlay into trips to Slinger and Nashville.
“We’ll definitely be at Madison and then we’ll be at the (Gandrud) 250 at Kaukauna as ASA Midwest Tour races. We’ve got the Slinger Nationals circled on our calendar if we’re able to put together enough funding for that, and then the same for Nashville the first week of November.”
This weekend’s Joe Shear Classic is an opportunity for Mondeik to etch his name into the rich history books of ASA.
“There’s so much history in it. I went back in the past and did a lot of research but that was all before I got into racing in general. The likes of Steve Carlson and others that were a part of it, it’s a huge legacy they were a part of and were able to form. It’s cool that they’re bringing that national brand back into the spotlight.”
The Joe Shear Classic 200 will mark race two of the inaugural ASA STARS National Tour schedule, set for 2:00PM CT on Sunday, May 7. Advance tickets are available by visiting the track website at misracing.com/tickets, or at the track office during regular business hours. Madison International Speedway is located ten minutes south of Madison, on Sunrise Road off of Highway 138 between Oregon and Stoughton.
The Joe Shear Classic will be live-streamed on Racing America, MidwestTour.tv and TRACKTV.com. MAVTV will air the event on Monday, May 15 at 8pm ET.
The ASA STARS National Tour opened the ten race, six-state schedule at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL on March 11. Georgia racer Casey Roderick won the Sunshine State 200.
For the full ASA STARS National Tour schedule, plus Super Late Model rules and other information, please visit the series website at starsnationaltour.com, or be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: STARS National Series | Twitter: @racewithstars | IG: @starsnational).
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